Battlezone was a
1980 arcade game
that used vector
graphics to display
images in a
wireframe way, like
Asteroids, Lunar
Lander, and a
handful of other
classics. Because of
its use of the
periscope viewfinder
and the fact that is
was from a first
person perspective,
some consider
Battlezone to be the
first virtual
reality game
produced. Although
some may argue this,
it is worth noting
that a military
version of the game
was produced for the
Army to help train
Bradley Fighting
Vehicle gunners.

Fans
of the game will
remember that the
user pilots a tank
through rock
terrain, using a
small radar to
locate enemy tank.
From time to time,
UFOs would pop up
randomly, and these
could not be seen on
the radar. You could
use the terrain
(rocks, boulders) to
maneuver the tank to
both avoid enemy
fire and to get the
jump on enemies. The
player viewed the
game through a
periscope and used
two joysticks to
move the tank. There
were tons of
spin-offs of
Battlezone,in
addition to
authorized versions
for the PC,
Commodore 64, Apple
II, Atari 2600, and
many more. As the
years have gone on,
and home systems and
PCs have become more
sophisticated, so
have the spin-offs
and remakes of
Battlezone.